Visas & Bank Accounts

[Kristyx]

I’ll be going to China for a semester on an F visa. Can you open a bank account in China with this type of visa? (I won’t have a residence permit) If not, has anyone else been to China only for about five months and what did you do about money? Did you just use your home bank account and get charged for each withdrawal? What’s the best thing to do?

[gougou]

I am using a German credit card that provides free withdrawals outside of Germany.

I never had a bank account myself, but a friend of mine opened several, all without a residence permit.

[roddy]

For simplicity's sake, and assuming you aren't going to be earning any money locally, the best thing to do is probably use your bank card from home - obviously check you'll be able to, but there can't be many cards that can't be used abroad nowadays. It might be worth opening a new account at home with a bank that offers good rates on overseas transactions.

If you need to open a bank account here, that's no problem. You just need your passport, no requirements on type of visa, etc.

[imron]

All you need to open a bank account is your passport. Most overseas cards will work in most ATMs (at least in the bigger cities), meaning you can keep all your money in your overseas bank account if you need to. Obviously it's a good idea to try and set it up so you don't get charged for it (I don't get charged for transactions on my australian visa debit card), but otherwise just take out large chunks of money at a time so you're withdrawing less often, and therefore being charged less (most ATMs have a transaction limit of 2000 RMB, so a fee of a couple of dollars isn't really all that much compared to the total amount).

If you're earning money in China, it's probably good enough just to keep the money in your desk drawer, assuming you're not being paid a foreign salary :-)

[smalldog]

If you're in the UK, open a Nationwide bank account. Overseas withdrawals are completely fee-free and use interbank exchange rates so are the most cost-effective way of getting at your money as well as being convenient. Other high street banks charge 2-3% with minimum fees of a couple of pounds per withdrawal.

[flameproof]

Watch out for fees and exchange rate if you use your home card to get money from the ATM

I would open a bank account. I use now CMB (which has the UnionPay card), but I will also check ICBC, which I heard is good and has English online banking (CMB has not)

HSBC is good, but has no UnionPay and a rmb16,000 minimum to avoid monthly fees.

[roddy]

You'd need to do the maths, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone not earning locally is better off using an overseas card at least in the short term, when compared to paying for an international bank transfer or the hassle / risk of carrying large chunks of cash around. It's certainly what I'd do.

[Kristyx]

Thanks for all the advice guys. You've all been really helpful.

I have another quick question. I've been saving for a while and to stop myself from spending the money I'm saving I've been getting it changed to RMB. However, I just heard that you can't take more than 6000RMB in to China. Is that right?

[smalldog]

I think the limit was increased to 20000 several years ago. No-one is going to check anyway. I hope you're getting a decent rate buying RMB overseas.

[seatown]

I don't recommend using ATM card as they will tear you apart with fees. Even the ones that are free are clearly not when you look at statement.

The best way to transfer large amounts of money is to use wire transfer, also known as T/T. This is a simple process. You just get the destination bank's number, also know as the swift code and your account no. Banks usually charge from USD20-USD40 one time for outgoing transfer. There is no limit as far as I know to how much you can transfer. Large corporations transfer millions all the time through wire. Incoming transfers have no charges.

Transferring out of China is another story...but can be done.

For wire, only use Bank of China. Some of the other banks wire through Bank of China and will take much longer. Bank of China transfer usually get through the next day, but I have heard some horror stories though I think they've gotten things together since then.

One thing to note: make sure your name matches that in your passport! If you have a middle name on your passport, but no middle name on your wire transfer, the transaction may not go through!

Opening an account is a breeze. Anyone with a passport can do it, and it is the same as any local. Only the ID you use is different.

Exchange rates through the Bank of China is close to the market rate. If you try to withdraw your cash in your native currency before exchanging to RMB, they will charge you 1%. If you convert first to RMB, then there is no charge.

[smalldog]

I don't recommend using ATM card as they will tear you apart with fees. Even the ones that are free are clearly not when you look at statement.

Not true! Using my Nationwide card recently:

12 February 2007 Cash 3,000.00CNY at 15.074 £199.01

For wire, only use Bank of China. Some of the other banks wire through Bank of China and will take much longer. Bank of China transfer usually get through the next day, but I have heard some horror stories though I think they've gotten things together since then.

I have found China Merchants Bank to be very quick -- they have a shorter hierarchy of branches so they are supposed to be quicker than Bank of China. Also they don't charge for receiving foreign currency and you can use online banking (Chinese only, unfortunately) to convert the foreign currency to RMB before withdrawing from an ATM.

[Kristyx]

Ok, I've got a Nationwide card now and plan to use that in China. Although their adverts still say there will be no fee for withdrawing cash overseas, the small print says that the bank you're withdrawing the money from might charge you a fee. I've read a couple of posts from people saying this is happening. So, any UK guys using a Nationwide account, are you getting charged by the Chinese banks to withdraw cash? If so, how much? Or have you found that some banks charge you but others don't? If that's the case, which ones don't? I think the campus I'm going to has Bank of China.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

[adrianlondon]

I haven't been in Beijing for a few months now, but while I was there I used many cashpoints with my Nationwide debitcard (Flexaccount - Visa/Delta) and was never charged.

[Kristyx]

Thanks Adrianlondon